cb -- c-span's competition is open to students grades 6 through 12. find out more at studentca m.org. >> the u.s. house and senate and the federal government -- host: we are highlighting key battleground states of campaign 2012. today we put a spotlight on iowa. joining us from des moines is a senior political writer with the associated press, mike glover. what is the economy like in the iowa? guest: the economy is probably better than the rest of the country. it's not great, but we have not suffered the depths of the recession that some other parts of the country have. the economy is less of an issue than it is in many other places around. basically because the farm economy is pretty good this year. commodity prices are up as well as land prices. so there's not a lot of economic uncertainty. host: what are the top issues that iowa voters are thinking? guest: it depends on what group you are talking to. on the republican side, the topics they are talking about are the social issues. that's very important. it has driven republican politics in the state